Griffin Elevator review

A stand that's as stylish as the Mac designed to sit on it

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Our Verdict

It's good looking, good value and takes the strain of your neck and shoulders

For

Ergonomically pleasing

Neat design

Against

Not really suitable for external monitors

On the box, there's a photo of a MacBook Pro perched on the Elevator. This gives you some idea of the inspiration behind this new laptop stand from Griffin: it's a perfect partner for the brushed-aluminium finish of Apple's flagship laptop.

The stand comes in three parts: two 'legs' and a Perspex crossbar. The legs fix into slots in the bar without any complication at all. Well, we say they fix... they fit just, although the legs on our model wobbled ever so slightly in their slots.

The wobbles quickly go away when the stand carries the weight of a laptop, though. Under the legs are rubber feet that grip the table to stop any sideways sliding. The rubber coating is repeated in two long strips that run along the top edge of the legs.

There are no clips or straps, but they're not needed. We also tested the stand with a MacBook - the gap between the legs is only seven inches, so it's compatible with any machine.

After using the stand for a couple of days, the main thing you notice is the more comfortable viewing position. The extra height seems much better for your neck and reduces that tired shoulder feeling you can get from peering down at a laptop on a flat table.

The space under the legs is deep enough to store a keyboard or external drive. The stand is also angled down slightly, making it easy to load discs into a SuperDrive.

It's also quite lightweight, and easily comes apart if you need to take it on the road to help you make a presentation. Griffin says that it works well with external monitors, but we didn't find that much of a draw; the width of the supporting legs isn't changeable, so the monitor would need a very large base to work with it.

Still, it's a lovely looking piece of kit nonetheless, and one that more than justifies its cost in terms of relaxed shoulders and neck!